MARTES, EL VEINTE DE MARZO, VEINTE-DOCE
I was interviewed yesterday about my work and exhibition 'Thirty-Three' at the Hastings City Art Gallery by Roy Dunningham. Here's a photo from Kath Purchas of the set-up, as we conducted the interview over Skype. A thank you to Roy for his great questions, the audience and the staff at Hastings City Art Gallery who helped in creating a gremlin-free technology link-up:

VIERNES, EL DIAZ DE FEBRERO, VEINTE-DOCE
My exhibition, 'Thirty-Three' installed at the Hastings City Art Gallery. The exhibition runs from 4 Feb - 6 May 2012. I'll be giving an artists talk via Skype on Wed, 21 March at 1.30pm. Will also be releasing the catalogue on that date. Photo courtesy of Kath Purchas.

JUEVES, EL NUEVE DE FEBRERO, VEINTE-DOCE

I am being interviewed at 4pm today (Pacific Standard Time) about my exhibition 'Thirty-Three' on Radio Kidnappers in Hawkes Bay, New Zealand.
Frequency details can be found here: http://www.radiokidnappers.org.nz/internet_audio.php

UPDATE:

replay, PST is Thursday, 3.05pm/ NZT Friday, 12.05pm. Also, it will be available for download from here under 'Dishing up Art' :http://www.radiokidnappers.org.nz/search_air_db.php

LUNES, EL SEIS DE FEBRERO, VEINTE-DOCE
My touring exhibition 'Thirty-Three' has just started at the Hastings City Art Gallery.
(From PAULNACHE): Matthew Couper is currently based in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. His touring exhibition 'Thirty~Three' opens 4 February 2012 at the @Hastings City Art Gallery (HCAG) Hawkes Bay, New†Zealand. The exhibition comprises of 33 retablo paintings, documenting each year of his life†up until 2009 accompanied by a†large painting installation along with the short†film (currently screening) which focuses on his practice. A full colour, limited edition publication (with essay†'The Divine Self and the Church of Auto-Resurrection' by Dr. Peter J. Howland) is scheduled to be released towards the middle of March. HCAG is one of six†venues exhibiting the show over the next 12 months. ’Thirty~Three’ was exhibited at PAULNACHE, Gisborne†in 2009. The gallery has represented Matt’s work since 2004.

DOMINGO, EL DIECINUEVE DE JUNIO, VEINTE-ONCE
Happy Father's Day!

('Me and Dad', 1997, oil on panel, 240mm x 120mm)

SABATO, EL VEINTISEIS DE JUNIO, VEINTE-DIEZ
Just a reminder that the Creative Hawke's Bay Invitational Exhibition is finishing this Sunday at the Hastings City Art Gallery. Below is a detail on one of the works I have in the exhibition, Rectángulo De Tiempos Del Final (2009, Oil on wood and a leaf; scrimshaw and nails, 325mm x 770mm x 90mm).
The half head/half skull is a classic I've been using a lot recently, a pertinent symbol of mortality, copied from a very small German bone carving I saw at the Met in NYC. Since then, I've found many images of the half and half kind, some of the best are 19th century Italian wax sculptures, used as medical guide, I believe. The dodo is also a great symbol for mortality, first used at artschool in a set of drawings in 1997. I started reusing the dodo in my paintings in 2003. He's holding a bank note in his beak and is standing on Charlemagne's chalice.

VIERNES, EL SIETE DE MAYO, VEINTE-DIEZ
I painted the work on the left in 1996 while on holiday in Hawkes Bay. There's obviously some link to my more recent work, My Ambassadors (right, 2008, oil on linen) as they both reference Hans Holbein's paintings. The earlier work on the right shows the skull on a table, unanamorphosised (if that is a word), yet I removed the skull in the later painting and replaced it with an anamorphic Huey Newton. I think I used the image of Newton as we were heading over to the USA just after this painting was exhibited and I'd been reading Soul On Ice by Eldridge Cleaver.

JUEVES, EL SEIS DE MAYO, VEINTE-DIEZ
Heading over to the East Coast today for some R & R, will post but they'll be delayed.

(below) Cultural Transferal, 2000, oil on panel, private collection, Wellington

JUEVES, EL VEINTINUEVE DE ABRIL
Self-portrait as a duck.

JUEVES, EL VEINTIDOS DE ABRIL, VEINTE-DEIZ
Below is part of an article written by Roy Dunningham about the Creative Hawke's Bay Invitational in The BayBuzz. He has some kind words to say about my work in the exhibition. To read the full article, click here.

Creative Hawke’s Bay Invitational, Hastings City Art Gallery – April 10-June 27 2010

It has taken awhile, but Creative Hawke’s Bay has got the formula right for this year’s Invitationals exhibition.

The old Hawke’s Bay Review had been in decline and was replaced by the Invitationals which revived standards and artist participation. A stand-down policy provided opportunities for fresh talent to emerge. It worked well but one problem remained. Last year one or two artists were less than rigorous in monitoring the qualities of the work they submitted. To address this a selector has been engaged this year in the person of curator Tim Walker.

Selecting in art can be problematic but, done well, it gives an exhibition form and a point of view. In the past this had been highlighted by the fascinating “Salon des Refusés” of work rejected from the old Hawke’s Bay Reviews held at Wine Country Gallery in Havelock North. Certainly, the resulting Invitationals show this year is one of the most consistent in quality that I can recall...

...The most original work in the exhibition is from Matt Couper. He employs quasi-mystical texts and symbols taken from a range of religious and philosophical orders over the ages. The symbols were of doubtful effectiveness in their original context, but they can tell us a lot about the way the human mind deals with hopes and fears and tries to explain the inexplicable. The presentation of these ideas is wonderfully pungent, painterly and idiosyncratic....

...There are too many good things in this show to cover in this review. Go and see it for yourself.

Selector Tim Walker has given us an exhibition that truly looks at Hawke’s Bay in its many aspects. This is not the “colourful at all costs” Hawke’s Bay of tourist promotions but is darker and deeper. And a lot more interesting.

SABATO, EL DIEZ DE ABRIL, VEINTE-DIEZ
Photos from the opening of the Creative Hawke's Bay Invitational by J.K. Russ.
Clockwise from top, left: braziers outside the Hastings City Art Gallery; my work, Reloj De La Recesion (poliptico) on the plinth with Helen Kerridge's Not A Bad Drop on the wall; another view of Reloj De La Recesion and Rectangulo De Tiempos Del Final on the wall; another view with Martin Selman's marble Self-Portrait, Reworked and Revisited. You can view images of my paintings here.

VIERNES, EL NUEVE DE ABRIL, VEINTE-DIEZ
Tonight is the opening of the Creative Hawke's Bay Invitational. Two works of mine from 2009 were selected to be displayed.

JUEVES, EL OCHO DE ABRIL, VEINTE-DIEZ
A Lego policeman made by my nephew Tom, with a little bit of help from me. The policeman sports an open mouth, moustache and rifle.

LUNES, EL VEINTIDOS DE MARZO, VEINTE-DIEZ
Click on the image below to view an invitation to a three-person exhibition at Paper-works in Napier.
The exhibition opens this Thursday night, 5.30pm - 7pm, 25th of March, 2010 and will continue through to the 23rd of April, 2010.
I will be exhibiting eleven new ex-voto paintings, dated from October 2009 to February 2010; a large oil on canvas painting with a hand-carved frame and a construction representing a disassembled computer (seen on the image below). Also exhibiting is Napier artist, Lex Benson-Cooper and Lyttelton artist, Eion Stevens
You will be able to view all the work in the exhibition on my website by the middle of this week and any enquiries can be directed to Annabel Sinclair-Thomson at Paper-works.

SABATO, EL VEINTE DE FEBRERO, VEINTE-DIEZ
A new ex-voto that I've recently 'antiqued', scanned, colour-corrected and all that other guff (dated 1st of December, 2009). I had to break a rule with this one. Usually, if I'm planning on painting an ex-voto, I'll only give myself a couple of days from the event to complete it, otherwise its intensity and time of possibly existing passes, so it should disappear into the ether with all the other events in my life that I decide not to document. I had a back-log of important ex-votos to complete and since we've been travelling around NZ a lot, I felt I could let this one pass as the whole 'teeth' issue comes up a lot in this ongoing series.
I completed another tooth ex-voto once got back from Wellington last week, in regards to the recent filling I received. It's the first filling I've had since I was 17.

MARTES, EL DIECINUEVE DE DICIEMBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
Thinking about Monday morning, travelling again and life in general.

(detail taken from a crucifix: 22nd Aug 2008: Cross That One Off The List, London)

LUNES, EL VEINTIOCHO DE DICIEMBRE, DOS MIL NUEVE
Boxing Day holiday / Havelock North High School / Konini Road animal reunion.